The Wedding Party And Holiday Escapes Ultimate Collection. Кейт Хьюит

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ

      ‘Yes, I suppose I could update my look a little bit,’ Liana said slowly. She’d been dressing, for the most part, like a businesswoman facing menopause, not a young woman in her twenties. A young woman with everything ahead of her.

      But she’d never actually felt as if she had anything ahead of her before, and she didn’t know if she did now.

      She had a quiet supper in her bedroom, as Sophia was dining out and Alyse and Leo had gone back to their town house. Sandro was working through dinner, and it wasn’t until it was coming on ten o’clock that she finally went to find him.

      She had no idea what she’d say, what she wanted to say. He was leaving her alone, just as she’d hoped and wanted. How could she tell him she actually wanted something different now, especially when she wasn’t sure herself what that was?

      She wandered through the downstairs, directed by footmen to his private study in the back of the palace. With nerves fluttering in her tummy and her heart starting to thud, she knocked on the door.

      ‘Come in.’

      Liana pushed open the door and stepped into a wood-panelled room with deep leather club chairs and a huge mahogany desk. Sandro sat behind it, one hand driven through his hair as he glanced up from the papers scattered on his desk.

      ‘Liana—’ Surprise flared silver in his eyes and he straightened, dropping his hand. ‘I’m sorry. It’s late. I’ve been trying to clear my desk but it never seems to happen.’

      ‘A king has a lot of work to do, I suppose,’ she answered with a small smile. Sandro might have avoided his royal duty for most of his adult life, but he was certainly attending to it now.

      ‘What have you been doing today? You had some appointments?’

      She nodded. ‘With my private secretary and stylist. I’ve never had a staff before.’

      ‘And is it to your liking?’

      ‘I don’t know whether it is or not. It’s overwhelming, I suppose. My style is meant to be fresher, apparently.’

      ‘Fresher? It makes you sound like a lettuce.’

      ‘It does, doesn’t it?’ She smiled, enjoying this little banter. ‘I know I’ve dressed a bit—conservatively.’

      He glanced at the lavender dress she still wore. ‘And why do you think that is?’

      ‘I suppose I’ve never wanted to draw attention to myself.’

      He nodded slowly, accepting, and Liana fiddled with the belt at her waist, uncomfortable with even this little honesty. ‘Are you—are you coming to bed?’

      He gazed at her seriously. ‘Do you want me to?’

      Yes. And no. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She’d had such clear purpose in her life...until now. Until she suddenly wanted more, more of him, more of feeling, more of life. Yet she couldn’t articulate all that now to Sandro.

      He sat back, his hands laced over his middle as he let his gaze sweep over her. ‘You’re still scared. Of me.’

      ‘Not of you—’

      ‘Of marriage. Of—intimacy.’

      She swallowed hard, the sound audible. ‘Yes.’ It was more than she’d ever admitted before.

      ‘Well, you can breathe easy, Liana. We won’t make love tonight.’

      Make love. And didn’t that conjure all sorts of images in her head? Images that made her dizzy, desires that dried her throat and made everything inside her ache. ‘When—?’ she asked, her voice only a little shaky, and he smiled.

      ‘Soon, I think. Perhaps on our honeymoon.’

      ‘Honeymoon?’ They weren’t meant to have a honeymoon. What was the point, when your marriage was about convenience?

      ‘Well, honeymoon might be overstating it a bit. I have to go to California, wrap up some business. I want you to go with me.’

      Her cheeks warmed, her blood heated. Everything inside her melted. He wanted her. Was it foolish to feel so gratified? So...thrilled?

      ‘Is that all right?’ Sandro asked quietly. ‘Do you want to go with me, Liana?’

      A week ago, a day ago, she would have prevaricated. Protected herself. She’d never admitted want to herself, much less to another person. Now she nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I want to go with you.’

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      SANDRO SAT ACROSS from Liana on the royal jet and picked a strawberry dipped in chocolate from the silver platter between them. He held it out to her, a mischievous smile playing about his mouth. They were halfway across the Atlantic and he was determined to begin what he suspected would be the very enjoyable process of melting his wife.

      It was already working; last night she’d lain in his arms and it had only taken her an hour to relax. He’d watched her face soften in sleep, those tightly pursed lips part on a sigh. Her lashes had fluttered and brushed against her porcelain-pale cheeks. He’d stroked her cheek, amazed at its softness, at the softness he felt in himself towards this woman he’d thought was so hard. So icy and cold.

      Yet even as he’d held her and stroked her cheek, he’d wondered. Doubted, because God only knew his judgment had been off before. He’d thought the best of his parents, of the one woman he’d let into his heart. He’d insisted on it, even when everything said otherwise.

      Was he doing the same now? Desperate, even now, to love and be loved? Because Liana might lie in his arms, but she didn’t always look as if she wanted to be there. One minute she was kissing him with a sudden, sweet passion that had taken him by surprise on the balcony and the next she was cool and remote, all chilly indifference.

      Which was the real woman?

      Now Liana eyed the chocolate strawberry askance. ‘You have a thing about messy food.’

      ‘They tend to be aphrodisiacal.’

      ‘Aphro— Oh.’ Her cheeks pinked, and he grinned.

      ‘Try one.’

      ‘I don’t—’

      ‘You don’t like strawberries? Or chocolate? I can’t believe it.’

      ‘I’ve never had one before.’

      ‘A strawberry?’

      ‘Not one dipped in chocolate.’ Her blush deepened and she looked away. ‘Sometimes I think I must seem ridiculous to you.’

      Surprise made him falter. He dropped his hand, still holding the strawberry, the chocolate smearing his fingers. ‘Nothing about you is ridiculous, Liana.’

      ‘I know I haven’t СКАЧАТЬ